The History of the Bristol SU

The Bristol SU (small
underfloor) was a joint venture between Bristol Commercial Vehicles (BCV)
and Eastern Coach Works (ECW) for a small capacity coach and bus to replace the
Bristol SC. The SU was produced between 1960 and 1966 .

There were two types of SU developed;

small underfloor short (SUS - B30F);
and

small underfloor long (SUL) of which consisted of the coach (C33F) and the
bus (B36F).

They were powered by
an Albion EN250H 4 cylinder 4.1 Litre engine with a five speed David Brown
gearbox. EWT 386C (West Yorkshire's SMA17) was later
fitted with a Perkins H6.354 5.8 Litre and was re-designated SUL6P.

The SU was only 7 feet 6 inches in width, which was ideal for the main users,
Western National and Southern National Omnibus Company Ltd for their rural
services in the West Country.

There were 181 Bristol SU's built; 25 SUS buses and 156 SUL
(118 buses and 38 coaches). The SUs were delivered to the following operators,
Bristol Omnibus (9), Western
National (83), Southern National (50) which ran from the same headquarters in
Exeter, West Yorkshire (18), Southern Vectis (8), United Counties (6), United
Automobiles (5) and United Welsh (2). All the Southern National vehicles
were transferred to Western National in December 1969.

The SU remained in service with many of the original operators until the late
1970s. After this, many were to see further service with local independent
operators on the Mainland, in Guernsey and the Isle of Scilly. The last SU
(280 KTA) in operational service was with Tillingbourne Bus and came out of
service in May 2000.

When production ceased in 1966 it was to be replaced by the Bristol LH.